Panasonic's $699 UHD Blu-ray player arrives in September

We've already waded through a number of research reports that found individuals more likely to stay at home and get their entertainment during rough economic times, but an insightful piece from Parks Associates takes a more deliberate approach to analyzing what's really going on. When looking at just how many people are viewing video-on-demand content now versus two years ago (it's way up, by the way), it's easy to attribute that -- along with the downturn at the box office -- to a flagging economy. However, the report also notes that HD adoption in general has boomed over the past two years, giving citizens access to more high-quality at-home entertainment than ever before. As Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks, so satisfactorily put it: "As we're seeing high-definition TV penetration reach 50% of households and home theater penetration well over 20%, we're seeing consumers want to enjoy those investments as much as possible." Nice thinking outside of the box there, Kurt.